Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 345 Night Raid on Skeeter's Mansion
"Fine, don't tell me then, I'm going to start brainwashing you—"

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” Rita said hastily, her face pale. “There’s a Norwegian named Loki—he says he knows how to deal with you…”

“Tell me,” Cohen said. “What kind of person is he? How did you meet him?”

“He…he was a tall, thin, gray-haired man…” Rita said breathlessly, “wearing a silver robe—he contacted me after I wrote that interview with you, saying he reads all my articles…so he immediately recognized this one wasn’t mine…and he was very handsome…”

"Stop talking about appearances." Cohen didn't care what this guy named Loki looked like. "I know you're thirsty, but hold it in for now—go on and tell me what he talked to you about me later."

“I know.” Rita, her face a purplish-red as if she’d been forced to swallow a can of fermented herring, continued, “He told me not to be so afraid of you, just a monster mixed with Azkaban jailers—wait—he said that! It has nothing to do with me!”

“Hmm.” Cohen raised his eyebrows.

“What he meant was that if you really wanted to attack me, I could defend myself with the Patronus Charm, just like dealing with a normal Dementor…” Rita said, her eyes fixed on the ground. “He told me not to be afraid of you, to keep finding dirt on you, and to gradually build up your negative image… He would handle the rest.”

"How many times have you met him?" Cohen asked. "How much do you know about him? Does he have any accomplices?"

“I haven’t met his accomplices, maybe not—but the number of times we’ve met…” Rita stammered, her ears now turning red.

"Coo coo coo." The count, who was crouching in his nest by the bed, let out a series of owl calls.

"..." Cohen felt like he knew something.

“If you want to find him…” Rita said, “I can take you there—but you have to promise not to hurt me…”

"?"

Cohen seemed to have heard something incomprehensible and almost burst out laughing.
"What did you say? I'll assure you? Old lady, don't you understand the situation? If you hadn't spoken, I would have used Legilimency. I only refrained from directly opening your head out of humanitarian considerations. So..."

Cohen dragged out the tone.

"When did it become your turn to negotiate with me?"

……

The result was that Rita was actually living with this guy named Loki. The handsome young man was still very attractive to a single woman in her forties—and this young man was also her fan.

Cohen also obtained Rita's address. It has to be said that, due to the existence of the Legilimency spell, most interrogations seem to have lost their original meaning.

However, Cohen still felt that threats and intimidation were more engaging than a simple spell—although in the end, to ensure the information was accurate, he still had to add a Legilimency.

After figuring out who Rita's backer was, Cohen put Rita back into the jar—clearly Rita wasn't entirely willing, but given the Dementor's kiss, the word "unwilling" was hard to utter.

“That’s called ‘pretentiousness’,” the count said. “Or ‘unnecessary’.”

“Mind your own business. I’m happy to do it,” Cohen said. “Just tell me if you enjoy watching it.”

“I’m annoyed,” the Earl said dryly. “Because that guy named Loki reminds me of that yellow-haired owl from three years ago.”

“The Wife and Her Incompetent Husband, right?” Cohen said. “But Rita doesn’t have a husband. The only thing that connects these two things is that you’ve been sexually repressed for too long.”

"Then buy me a female owl," the count demanded.

“Go find one yourself. There are way more owls at Hogwarts than in the shop,” Cohen refused. “Love isn’t something you buy, or you’ll just become a greasy old bird keeping owls as mistresses. All these years you’ve been so unsuccessful in finding a mate, plus you’re always buying special egg-laying potions…you wouldn’t actually—” “So you’re planning to go see that Loki tonight?” The Earl immediately changed the subject. “If we wait until tomorrow, maybe Rita’s not coming home will make him realize something’s wrong…”

"I understand the logic, but are you really—"

"They're about to escape!" The count pushed open the window, flapped his wings, and flew outside. "I'll scout ahead for you—you'd better hurry and follow!"

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Cohen shook his head.

However, what the Earl said was indeed what Cohen was going to do next.

Anyway, it's still Christmas holiday after today, so Cohen won't get into any trouble no matter how long he stays out tonight—unless Dumbledore comes to arrest the students.
-
Cohen took Rita with him and left Hogwarts. Since Rita's house was protected by many defensive spells, Cohen chose to have Rita lead the way once they arrived nearby, so as not to have to go through the trouble of dealing with those protective spells himself.

However, Rita, who had regained her freedom, still couldn't quite distinguish between what was important and what wasn't.

"Try using Apparition to escape again?"

Cohen spoke kindly to Rita.

Before her apparition could even begin, Cohen had already seized her soul.

“Use it once and eat a bite; after three times, your soul will be completely gone,” Cohen warned. “I often feel a bit alienated from other Dementors because I’m too kind…”

"..."

Rita said nothing, yet it was as if she had said everything.

Her house was in a remote location near London; it was a three-story cottage with gray brick walls covered with withered ivy that had died out for winter.

The bronze lettering of "Skeet House" on the doorplate had been maliciously scratched off long ago, and Rita never seemed to want to repair it.

However, Cohen couldn't find any trace of other souls anywhere in the building, even through the walls—

“He ran away,” Cohen said.

“Impossible,” Rita said incredulously. “We were planning to…do that tonight—it’s not time yet…”

But when she pushed the door open without even turning the key, her eyes were filled with confusion.

Both she and Loki should have locked the door.

The fact that the door is now only slightly ajar indicates that someone has entered the room—a stranger, no less.

“Then the problem is obvious.” Cohen raised his eyebrows. “He might be going to another woman’s house…”

"Impossible." Rita sensed something was wrong.

The protective spell she cast on the house disappeared, and she didn't even feel anything when she first arrived home.

A stranger came in tonight.

(End of this chapter)